World Comin' Down
by bluejeanie
Summary: The title comes from a Billy Idol song. Spencer has been affected by his bipolar disorder for years, and when his father returns from the military he finds himself overwhelmed by the intensity of his disorder. Rated T for now, but that may change.
1. Chapter 1

Spencer examined his latest sculpture. It was a real work of beauty, to his eyes anyway. His admiration was cut short by a knock at the door.

"Carly, can you get that?" He shouted instinctively. But when he remembered he was alone he wiped the paint off his hands and answered the door.

Colonel Shay stood in the doorway, in full uniform, and immediately began sizing up his son.

"You haven't grown since the last time I saw you." He stated simply.

"I'm a grown man, and you saw me about a year ago."

Joe folded Spencer into a firm hug, before stepping into the apartment.

"This place is a mess."

"Yeah I know, I'm kind of in the middle of a project right now, so it can get kind of messy."

"That's no excuse, clean it up."

Spencer busied himself tidying the apartment, while Joe helped himself to iced tea from the fridge.

"Spencer, why don't you sit with me, tell me how things are?"

Spencer sat down, and poured himself a glass. "Things have been going fine, you know, normal. Carly's been doing well at school, I got a piece in a museum; everything's going pretty well."

Joe frowned, "I don't really want to start a discussion about this, but are you still taking your medication?"

Spencer rolled his eyes, "No, I stopped taking it a while back."

The Colonel stiffened, "We talked about this, I don't know that you are a fit guardian for Carly if you aren't under control." He paused, "Don't get me wrong, I am glad that you feel you are able to function without it, but I'd like nothing more than to see you cured."

Spencer gritted his teeth, "And I told you there is no cure, bipolar doesn't just go away."

Joe sighed, "Alright, moving on, how is iCarly? I only got to catch parts of it on my last mission; it seems to be fairly popular."

When Carly got home the three of them went out to dinner, Joe insisting that spaghetti tacos were no way to celebrate his return, Spencer conceded.

...

The next morning Spencer woke up bright and early, excited to have his family back together. His excitement was evident in that he was practically unable to hold the comb steady as he ran it through his hair. He tried on several outfits before choosing the one that was both comfortable, and looked decent. He stepped out of his room, and was greeted by the smell of breakfast frying. He felt a pang of disappointment, as breakfast was something he looked forward to making for Carly and her friends on the weekend. He masked his disappointment, and stepped into the living room.

He immediately noticed that something was different. Looking around he noticed that his sculpture had gone missing, as had all his art supplies.

"Where's my stuff?" He asked, when he ran into his dad.

"I moved it, we have people coming over, and I can't have the place looking like a pig sty."

"It was still drying, there's no way I can get the mannequin's head to go like that again, where did you move it to?"

"The closet outside your room"

Spencer sprinted to the closet, and sure enough the mannequin's head had detached, and was lying at the base of the sculpture.

"Dad, are you kidding me? How could you move that? You must have seen it fall apart."

"Oh my god, you aren't about to have an 'episode' are you? Try to control it a little."

Spencer pinched the bridge of his nose, and took deep calming breaths.

"Look, I'm sorry that I snapped at you, but I am frustrated, and you calling everything I do an 'episode' is really aggravating, I have someone coming by to pick it up later today, and it has pretty much fallen to pieces."

Colonel Shay glanced at him, "Why did you leave it to the last minute?"

Spencer stamped his foot, "That is not the point!"

"Well then what is?"

Spencer closed his eyes, deciding to leave before he did or said something he might regret.

"I'm going back to my room."

Colonel Shay said, "See, you always do that. We can't have a rational discussion because you are always running away the second you get emotional."

Spencer didn't turn around as he went back into his room, slamming the door behind him.

**Author's Note:**

**Thanks so much for reading my story, please review!**

**I decided to call Colonel Shay Joe, because I don't know if he has a first name.**

**I will have a new chapter posted shortly.**


	2. Chapter 2

When Spencer finally emerged from his room his eyes were dry. He found his dad sitting with his feet up on the coffee table, reading the paper. Joe looked up, and took in his son's haggard appearance.

"Everything okay?"

"Not really, Dad" Spencer responded.

Joe sighed. "I have a friend coming over, he and I are going out to lunch. I need you to watch his son while we're gone."

"But dad, I have plans. I'm leaving in about half an hour."

"Sometime we have to make sacrifices for something bigger than ourselves. I know you don't grasp that yet, but someday you will."

"You're talking about babysitting, not going to war." Spencer responded, suddenly angry.

"And what would you know about that?" Joe asked, "You're not going to freak out, are you?

There was nothing Spencer could respond to that. He slinked back to his room and curled up on his bed. Some days were easier than others. Having his dad around meant that all the energy he usually had was converted into purely self-protective energy. Every small fight or disagreement took it out of him, and sent him back to his bed. He liked to think of his bed as a place to recharge. He was like a battery. Most days he was a rechargeable battery that was ready to go, at peak performance when it was done. Other days, like this one, it was like trying to charge a regular battery. You could get enough energy for a short amount of time, but under stress it dies in a matter of seconds.

Spencer smiled; his analogies for life had always been a little weird. He was glad to know at least this remained the same.


End file.
